Witnessing Jesus in every dimension of life in a world of communication

Sunday, January 29, 2012

ALL CHRISTIANS HAVE THE DUTY TO ANNOUNCE THE GOSPEL (VIS article)

Dear Pauline Friends & Family,

Peace be with you!

Many thanks to God for the gift of our charism handed down to us by Blessed James Alberione to spread the Gospel through social communications. Our work has been cut out clearly for us early on by Jesus Christ before His Ascension into heaven. His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI gives us new impetus today as Christians to respond to the call to radiate the word of truth.

Given the many inspirations from the writings of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI about Lectio Divina and how this practice will bring to the Church a new spiritual springtime, the Pauline Books & Media Center in Manhattan hosts Lectio Divina. For details, contact

Pauline Book & Media Center

64 W 38th Street (between 5th & 6th Ave)

New York, NY

212-754-1110

Also in Manhattan, the Church of the Holy Family (315 E. 47 St., NYC) aka United Nations Parish, and American Bible Society invite all to Lectio Divina workshop on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes, Saturday, February 11, 2012. Fr. Dempsey Acosta, a scholar of Sacred Scriptures, will be conducting the training. ($20). RSVP by Feb. 7, 2012, Tel.No. (212) 753-3401. Hope to see you there!

It is never too early to prepare for World Mission Day. I take this opportunity to draw attention to the following extracts from the full VIS article quoted below:

Extracts:
~~~

"The central point of our announcement always
remains the same: ... the 'kerygma' of God's absolute and total love for each
man and woman, which culminated in His sending the eternal and only-begotten
Son, the Lord Jesus, Who did not disdain to take on the poverty of our human
nature, loving it and saving it from sin and death by the offer of Himself upon
the cross"

~~~

"... All the components of the great mosaic of
the Church must be aware that they are touched by the Lord's command to preach
the Gospel, so that Christ may be announced everywhere. We pastors, religious
and all Christ's faithful must follow the footsteps of the Apostle Paul who ...
worked, suffered and struggled to bring the Gospel among the pagans, not
sparing energy, time or means to make Christ's message known".

~~~

QUOTE

ALL
CHRISTIANS HAVE THE DUTY TO ANNOUNCE THE GOSPEL

VATICAN CITY,
25 JAN 2012 (VIS) - Made public today was the Pope's Message for World Mission
Day, which falls this year on Sunday 21 October. The theme of the document is:
"Called to radiate the word of truth". Extracts of the message are
given below.

"This year the celebration of World Mission Day is particularly
significant. The fiftieth anniversary of the conciliar Decree 'Ad gentes', the
opening of the Year of Faith and the Synod of Bishops on the theme of the new
evangelisation all come together to reaffirm the Church's will to dedicate
herself with greater courage and ardour to the 'missio ad gentes', that the
Gospel may reach the ends of the earth.

"Vatican Council II, with the participation of Catholic bishops from every
corner of the world, was a luminous sign of the Church's universality. ...
Missionary bishops and autochthonous bishops, pastors of communities living
among non-Christian peoples, ... all made an important contribution to
reaffirming the pressing need of 'ad gentes' evangelisation and, consequently, to
placing the missionary nature of the Church at the centre of
ecclesiology".

"Today this view ... remerges with renewed urgency because the number of
those who do not yet know Christ has increased. ... We need, then, to retrieve
the apostolic zeal of the early Christian communities which, small and
defenceless, were nonetheless capable, through announcement and witness, of
spreading the Gospel throughout the then-known world.

"It is no surprise, then, that Vatican Council II and the subsequent Magisterium
of the Church place particular emphases on the missionary mandate which Christ
entrusted to His disciples, and which is the duty of all the people of God
(bishops, priests, deacons, religious and lay people). Announcing the Gospel in
every corner of the world is the primary responsibility of bishops, who are
directly responsible for evangelising the world".

"The command to preach the Gospel ... must involve all actions and sectors
of a particular Church, its entire being and activity. Vatican Council II made
this very clear and subsequent Magisterium has underlined it strongly. This
means the constant adaptation of lifestyles, pastoral plans and diocesan
organisation to this fundamental dimension of the Church's being, especially in
our continually changing world. ... All the components of the great mosaic of
the Church must be aware that they are touched by the Lord's command to preach
the Gospel, so that Christ may be announced everywhere. We pastors, religious
and all Christ's faithful must follow the footsteps of the Apostle Paul who ...
worked, suffered and struggled to bring the Gospel among the pagans, not
sparing energy, time or means to make Christ's message known".

"Missionary cooperation must expand to include new forms, not only economic
assistance but also direct participation in evangelisation. The celebration of
the Year of Faith and of the Synod of Bishops on the new evangelisation will be
useful occasions to relaunch missionary cooperation, especially in the latter
dimension".

"The immense horizons of the Church's mission and the complexity of
today's situation call for new ways of effectively communicating the word of
God. First and foremost this requires a renewed adherence of individual and
community faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ 'especially at a time of profound
change such as humanity is currently experiencing'.

"One of the obstacles to evangelisation is, in fact, the crisis of faith,
not only in the Western world but among a large part of humankind, which nonetheless
hungers and thirsts for God, and which must be invited and led to the bread of
life and the living water. ... We must renew our enthusiasm to communicate the
faith, so as to promote new evangelisation in communities and countries of
ancient Christian tradition, which are losing their reference to God, and help
them rediscover the joy of believing. Concern for evangelisation must never
remain at the margins of Christians' ecclesial activity or individual lives, it
must characterise them strongly in their awareness of being both beneficiaries
and missionaries of the Gospel The central point of our announcement always
remains the same: ... the 'kerygma' of God's absolute and total love for each
man and woman, which culminated in His sending the eternal and only-begotten
Son, the Lord Jesus, Who did not disdain to take on the poverty of our human
nature, loving it and saving it from sin and death by the offer of Himself upon
the cross".

"Faith is a gift that was given to us to be shared. ... It is the most
important gift of our lives and we cannot keep it to ourselves".

"Many priests and religious from all over the world, many lay people and
even entire families leave their countries, their local communities, and travel
to other Churches to bear witness to and announce the Name of Christ. ... This
is an expression of profound communion, sharing and charity among
Churches".

"Together with this exalted sign of faith transformed into charity, I
would like to mention and thank the Pontifical Missionary Works, which is an
instrument for cooperation in the Church's universal mission in the world.
Thanks to their activities the announcement of the Gospel is transformed into
assistance to others, justice for the poorest, education in isolated villages,
medical care in remote areas, liberation from want, rehabilitation of the
marginalised, support for the development of peoples, the breaking down of
ethnic divisions and respect for life in all its stages".

"Upon the work of evangelisation 'ad gentes', and especially upon those
who carry it out, I invoke the effusion of the Holy Spirit, that the grace of
God may make it ever more decisive in the history of the world".

WELCOME!

Pauline Cooperators is a public Catholic Association of the Laity born of the prophetic intuition of Blessed James Alberione in 1917. We live in communion with members of the Pauline Family employing prayer, gifts and talents for our common holiness and to evangelize in today's communication culture.